Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

It's possible you're IBS-A (alternating between D and C). It's also possible you're primarily C and the D attack was the C resolving. From reading your other posts, though, it sounds like you're probably IBS-D. The "constipation" you suffer after having a massive D attack may simply be because there's nothing left in your system to get rid of. When I was still having horrible D attacks it wasn't unusual for me wait as long as 3 days after one before having to poop - I was just emptied out. And that feeling of "incomplete evacuation" is a classic IBS symptom.

Having said that, it is still crucial that you get all the necessary testing done but following Heather's approach now won't hurt and if your final diagnosis is, in fact, IBS then you'll be ahead of the game.

Brand name Metamucil contains both Soluble Fiber and Insoluble Fiber. If your problem is IBS-D, you'd probably be better off with a soluble fiber supplement (SFS) that contains ONLY Soluble Fiber. There are a lot of them on the market - you can read all about them here: web page

I think Acacia is great and since it provides more Soluble Fiber per dose than most other SFS I find it cheaper to use. Be sure to start at a low dose and increase slowly.

If you want to give Heather's approach a try then, yes, you should follow it religiously. Once you stabilize you may (I repeat, may) find you can occasionally manage some of the "forbidden" food items but until then avoid them. You might want to try Heather's Break The Cycle Diet for 1-3 days. This is all Soluble Fiber foods and should help calm your tummy down quickly. It's insanely boring but can really help. Try it for at least one day but no more than 3. And the peppermint tea can really help (not advised if you have acid reflux).

You might also try Imodium to help get things under control while you're stabilizing. Some people take an Imodium every day as a preventive until they stabilize. And when you finally do see your GI (October, sheesh!) ask about an anti-spasmodic.

I was about as D as D gets and following Heather's guidelines means no more food-related attacks for me. I do still get stress attacks sometimes but even those are much less severe when I'm eating carefully. And I found Imodium and an anti-spasmodic actually helped with the stress attacks once I began following Heather's guidelines whereas before they had basically done nothing.

HTH.

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